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WASHINGTON (7/16/12)--The U.S. Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund on Friday opened the 2012 round of the New Market Tax Credit (NMTC) program.

The CDFI Fund in a release said it would make up to $5 billion in tax credits available during the 2012 round of the NMTC, pending authorization by the U.S. Congress.

Credit unions are among those eligible to participate in the NMTC, which seeks to spur the investment of new private sector capital into low-income communities. To do so, it permits individual or corporate taxpayers to receive a credit against federal income taxes for making Qualified Equity Investments (QEIs). Those investments must be made in designated Community Development Entities (CDEs). The CDFI Fund allocates the tax credits annually through a competitive application process.

CDFI Fund Director Donna Gambrell said the NMTC program "has been the key to financing countless investments in low-income communities, investments that have bettered the lives of Americans across the country."

This is the 10th year the CDFI Fund has conducted the program. The NMTC program has made 664 awards, totaling $33 billion in tax credit allocations, during that time, the CDFI Fund said.

Applications for CDE certification must be received by Aug. 3, and applications for the NMTC itself must be received by Sept. 12.